Romanesque
Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp
Topics
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Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and Southern
Italy
Romanesque Architecture: Northern Italy
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
High Romanesque in Normandy and England
Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and
Southern Italy
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Norman rulers arrived south of Rome in the
mid 11th century
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Influences of Byzantium and Saracenic entangled
with northern European traditions
Important structures:
Norman Cathedrals of Cefalu
 Church of S. Nicola, Bari
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Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and
Southern Italy
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Norman Cathedral of Cefalu
Located in Palermo, Sicily
 Massive east with choir flanked by lateral chapels
 Twin-towered façade
 Fragile basilican nave with columnar supports
 Interior featured a Byzantine mosaic of Christ
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Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and
Southern Italy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and
Southern Italy
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Church of S. Nicola
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Located in Bari, Southern
Italy
A fusion of early
Christian with steep
proportions of Norman
models
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Northern
Italy
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Structures in Northern Italy had a strong
classical tradition, but openness to adventurous
spirit
Less conservative than the south
 Reflected the political and cultural individualism of
the North
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Romanesque Architecture: Northern
Italy
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Cathedral at Modena
c. 1099
 15th century rib vaulting
 Diaphragm arches
 Open timber roof
 Double-bay system
 Triple-gallery arcade
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Romanesque Architecture: Northern
Italy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Northern
Italy
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S. Ambrogio, Milan
Triple apses
 Barrel-vaulted forchoirs
 Nave of four huge vaulted bays, aisles, and galleries
 Atrium was almost as large as the church
 Featured a deep facade structure flanked by towers
 Rib vaulting
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Became a major feature of Gothic architecture
Romanesque Architecture: Northern
Italy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Northern
Italy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Northern
Italy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
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Tuscany was fortunate to have a wide range of
building materials
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Marble
This helped to reinforce the classical tendency
of their architecture
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
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Pisan (Pisa)
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Remarkable as a group of structures
Cemetery, basilica, tower, and baptistery
 All featured a standard style
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Same geometric clarity and sense of volume
Same decorative system and scale
Same color, texture, and materials
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
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Florentine
Rational, disciplined articulation
 Sharp, exquisite Classical detail
 Two dimensional
 Key Structures
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Baptistery of S. Giovanni, Florence
 Church of S. Miniato al Monte, Florence
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Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
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Baptistery of S. Giovanni, Florence
c. 1153
 Interior resembles the Pantheon
 Centralized plan
 Freestanding Corinthian columns
 Exterior elevation mirrors the interior
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Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
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Church of S. Miniato al Monte, Florence
Medium-sized unvaulted basilica
 Interior separated by three large bays
 Rich, paneled arcading
 Features a half-dome mosaic
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Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
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In these locations a new concept of nave wall
appeared
Major structures
Durham Cathedral, England
 Ely Cathedral, England
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High Romanesque in England
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Durham Cathedral
c. 1093 -1130
 Linear decorative accents
 Choir-aisle vaults
 Nave vaults formed a unique double-X pattern of
ribs
 Shows that rib vaulting was a crucial development
for the Gothic period of architecture
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High Romanesque in England
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
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Ely Cathedral
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
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Winchester Cathedral
Photo: Sullivan
High Romanesque in England
Photo: Sullivan
References
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Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to
Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture
Romanesque
Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp